ITETHICS RESOURCES

1. Consequentialism

Consequentialism is the class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness of that conduct. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right act (or omission) is one that will produce a good outcome, or consequence.

Consequentialism is usually distinguished from deontology, in that deontology derives the rightness or wrongness of one's conduct from the character of the behaviour itself rather than the outcomes of the conduct. It is also distinguished from virtue ethics , which focuses on the character of the agent rather than on the nature or consequences of the act (or omission) itself, and pragmatic ethics which treats morality like science: advancing socially over the course of many lifetimes, such that any moral criterion is subject to revision.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequentialism

2. Contractranism

The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments. Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept corresponding duties to protect themselves and one another from violence and other kinds of harm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contractarianism

3. Culture Critique

The Culture of Critique series comprises Kevin B. MacDonald's principal writings on Judaism and Jewish culture:

• ·         A People That Shall Dwell Alone: Judaism As a Group Evolutionary Strategy, With Diaspora Peoples
• ·         Separation and Its Discontents Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Anti-Semitism
• ·         The Culture of Critique: An Evolutionary Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-Century Intellectual and Political Movements
• ·         Understanding Jewish Influence: A Study in Ethnic Activism
• ·         Can the Jewish Model Help the West Survive?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture_of_Critique_series

4. Deontological Ethics

Deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek deon, "obligation, duty"; and -logia) is the normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule or rules. It is sometimes described as "duty" or "obligation" or "rule" -based ethics, because rules "bind you to your duty". Deontological ethics is commonly contrasted with consequentialist ethical theories, according to which the rightness of an action is determined by its consequences. Deontological ethics is also contrasted from pragmatic ethics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontological_ethics

5. Discourse Ethics

Discourse ethics, sometimes called argumentation ethics, refers to a type of argument that attempts to establish normative or ethical truths by examining the presuppositions of discourse. Variations of this argument have been used in the establishment of egalitarian ethics, as well as libertarian ethics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_ethics

6. Divine Command

Divine command theory is the meta-ethical view about the semantics or meaning of ethical sentences, which claims that ethical sentences express propositions, some of which are true, about the attitudes of God That is, it claims that sentences such as "charity is good" mean the same thing as sentences such as "God commands charity". Divine command theory thus stands in opposition to other forms of ethical subjectivism as well as to moral realism (which claims that moral propositions refer to objective facts, independent of anyone's attitudes or opinions), error theory (which denies that any moral propositions are true in any sense), and non-cognitivism (which denies that moral sentences express propositions capable of being true or false at all).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_command_theory

7. Egoism

Psychological egoism is the view that humans are always motivated by self-interest, even in what seem to be acts of altruism. It claims that, when people choose to help others, they do so ultimately because of the personal benefits that they themselves expect to obtain, directly or indirectly, from doing so. This is a descriptive rather than normative view, since it only makes claims about how things are, not how they ought to be. It is, however, related to several other normative forms of egoism, such as ethical egoism and rational egoism.

In ethical philosophy, rational egoism (also called rational selfishness or egotism) is the principle that an action is rational if and only if it maximizes one's self-interest. The view is a normative form of egoism. However, it is different from other forms of egoism, such as ethical egoism and psychological egoism. While psychological egoism is about motivation and ethical egoism is about morality, rational egoism is a view about rationality (where rationality may or may not be tied to morality). Ethical egoism is also different from amoralism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_egoism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_egoism

8. Hedonism

Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus pain).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonism

9. Naturalism

Naturalism commonly refers to the philosophical viewpoint that the natural universe and its natural laws and forces operate in the universe, and that nothing exists beyond the natural universe or, if it does, it does not affect the natural universe that we know. Followers of naturalism (naturalists) assert that natural laws are the rules that govern the structure and behavior of the natural universe, that the universe is a product of these laws and that the goal of science is to discover and publish them systematically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(philosophy)

10. Particularism

Particularism may refer to the view that there are no moral principles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particularism

11. Perfectionism

Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that a state of completeness and flawlessness can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable. At such levels, this is considered an unhealthy belief, and psychologists typically refer to such individuals as maladaptive perfectionists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfectionism_(psychology)

12. Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism

13. Rationalism

Rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286). In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive" (Bourke 263). Different degrees of emphasis on this method or theory lead to a range of rationalist standpoints, from the moderate position "that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge" to the more extreme position that reason is "the unique path to knowledge" (Audi 771)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalism

14. Relativism

Relativism is the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration. The term is often used to refer to the context of moral principle, where in a relativistic mode of thought, principles and ethics are regarded as applicable in only limited context. There are many forms of relativism which vary in their degree of controversy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativism

15. Subjectivism

Subjectivism is a philosophical tenet that accords primacy to subjective experience as fundamental of all measure and law. In extreme forms like Solipsism, it may hold that the nature and existence of every object depends solely on someone's subjective awareness of it. One may also consider the qualified empiricism of George Berkeley in this context, given his reliance on God as the prime mover of human perception.

Ethical subjectivism is the  eta-ethical view which claims that:

1. Ethical sentences express propositions.
2. Some such propositions are true.
3. Those propositions are about the attitudes of people.^[1]

This makes ethical subjectivism a form of cognitivism. Ethical subjectivism stands in opposition to moral realism, which claims that moral propositions refer to objective facts, independent of human opinion; to error theory, which denies that any moral propositions are true in any sense; and to non-cognitivism, which denies that moral sentences express propositions at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjectivism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_subjectivism

16. Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics describes the character of a moral agent as a driving force for ethical behavior, rather than rules (deontology), consequentialism (which derives rightness or wrongness from the outcome of the act itself rather than character), or social context (pragmatic ethics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_ethics